


Pegasus Hustle

by Tarlan



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Angst and Humor, Canon Het Relationship, Community: mcsheplets, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-20
Updated: 2012-02-20
Packaged: 2017-10-31 12:00:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/343811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was called the <i>Pegasus Hustle</i>--and the easiest prey of all was off limits.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pegasus Hustle

**Author's Note:**

> Written for:  
>  _mcsheplets_ prompt #117 Games  
>  _ancientctybingo_ prompt #08 Pegasus Hustle

During the first year everything was in short supply, from basic necessities like toothbrushes to more personal items like MP3 players. Music, TV shows, sports and movies were never a problem as everyone had pooled their resources and uploaded all media onto a shared server, but it was amazing what lengths some people would go to for the rest.

It quickly became known as the _Pegasus Hustle_ and with almost two hundred of the best and brightest that Earth had to offer, some with IQs that put even Stephen Hawking to shame, it quickly became a game of conquest for marines and scientists alike. In that first year, everyone was fair game, with the marines easily holding their own against scientists who were both clever and stupid at the same time. 

The easiest target of them all turned out to be the most intelligent man in two galaxies--according to him anyway: Rodney McKay.

For someone who jealously guarded everything from personal possessions to his intellectual property, he was _too_ easy to fool, _too_ vulnerable, like taking candy from a baby. Sometimes he didn't even realize he'd been hustled until he went back to his quarters and found he'd given away his last pair of socks for something he could have had simply by snapping his fingers at Beckett or Weir, or whoever was in charge of that particular supply area. Sometimes he even forgot that he'd lost the stuff and would be seen wandering around mumbling under his breath, confused and snappy for days afterwards. And it was so easy to play the game on him without remorse because he was arrogant and belittling to everyone around him--with few exceptions. His words could be so acidic that he could strip paint with his tongue, and the disdainful roll of his eyes when someone acted stupid around him had seen a few barely holding back on an urge to punch or strangle him.

Hustling McKay had made him seem more human, and it had given some of the ones he tormented a little bit of satisfaction at seeing him taken down a peg or two, even if McKay didn't really get it. 

It started to change when the nanovirus was unleashed in Atlantis.

The marines and scientists on that city exploration all came back with the same story. When McKay was counting down his last minutes of life, expecting to die like the others, he didn't go running like Peterson. He didn't start wailing and crying at the unfairness of it all, or scream at others to do something. He spent that countdown trying to impart every last thought he'd had for protecting the city and those in it. It shouldn't have come as a shock as he'd acted that way once before, in a puddlejumper stuck in the gate, telling Weir to raise the shield instantly if he ordered it, to avoid Atlantis taking the brunt of an explosion.

It became a secret pact after the nanovirus incident that hustling McKay was off limits to all except one person: John Sheppard.

The _Pegasus Hustle_ continued even after the arrival of the _Daedalus_ and the promise of a monthly supply run, and as newcomers integrated with the original expedition members, they quickly learned the rules--that anyone was fair game except for McKay. Those who thought they knew better usually ended up losing more than they bargained for, especially as Sheppard seemed to be aware of the no-fly zone over McKay, and was quick to make sure no one crossed that line for long. Sheppard was also aware of his unique status of being the only one allowed to cross the line uncontested, and he certainly kept the McKay-baiting game alive with a good-natured rivalry that sometimes saw McKay hustle Sheppard back just as good--much to everyone's entertainment.

Some began to wonder if it _was_ just a game to them, as whatever object they hustled usually found its way back to its original owner within a few days. The game only seemed to stop whenever McKay was in a serious relationship, carrying on the moment that relationship ended. This latest cessation to their game had lasted a few months, since McKay returned from some special presentation on Earth with Doctor Keller hanging on his arm. The rumor spreading from one of Keller's nurses was that Keller and McKay had joined the mile high club on the way back, and if anyone had noticed the sudden increase in punishing exercise details for the marines around the same time, then it was a matter of don't ask, don't tell.

The week before Atlantis fired up the stardrive to head back to Pegasus, no one needed a rumor to know McKay and Keller had split up, for it was there in the way Sheppard hustled McKay out of his pudding cup in the mess hall for all to see. And if McKay was seen coming out of Sheppard's quarters later that evening looking like a man who'd had more than just a pudding cup returned--flushed and satisfied, with his hair in disarray, lips swollen and red, and a suspicious case of beard-burn--then no one mentioned it aloud.

The game was back on, and this time the stakes were even higher.

END


End file.
